The Journey Never Ends - The Lion Never Sleeps
Jeremy Trujillo from Colorado
My fitness journey began back in 2005 when I was 24 years old and pursuing a federal law enforcement position. A critical piece to being hired was to pass the physical assessment test, which included running, pull-ups, pushups, and sit-ups. I’m 5’ 7” and at the time was around 195 pounds with little to no muscle mass. The opportunity motivated me to get in shape to pursue an exciting new path in my career. I also recall my doctor informing me at the time that I had unusually high cholesterol and blood pressure for my age. I ended up losing approximately 35 pounds throughout the next nine months and did outstanding on the test. However, due to my lack of law enforcement experience I was not hired, but was fortunate enough that my career took me down a different path, which worked out for the best. Now that I was fit, I chose to take advantage of my new lifestyle by trying new things. I had always done the normal bodybuilding bench and curls workout, but over the next 10 years I would experiment with a variety of fitness programs, which helped me identify what I ultimately enjoyed most. This included everything from running, biking, spinning, bodybuilding, Crossfit, and Olympic weightlifting.
Throughout my journey, a big part of meeting my goals has been focusing on nutrition. Over time, I have tried all of the various nutrition programs such as Atkins, Paleo, other variations of low carb/high protein diets, and now vegan. Just like fitness, I had to experiment quite a bit. I received suggestions left and right about supplements and nutrition. The key was finding out what worked best for my body type. I would have never thought that a vegan approach would be the key to maintaining my health goals, but so far it has done the trick.
I’m now 36 years old and in the best shape of my life. When people say they’re "too old” to do something, I tend to laugh inside. I think, as a person grows older they become wiser, more confident, and more willing to take a step back to see the big picture of what needs to happen in order to accomplish specific goals. I have found great success and enjoyment in all of the various areas of fitness that I have pursued. I think the best thing someone can do is to spend at least six months with a personal trainer, a crossfit gym, barbell club, or powerlifting club to learn correct technique. Knowing how to correctly perform various movements is priceless and my experience from past crossfit and Olympic weightlifting coaches has been very helpful.
My wife and I have three kids. With one in high school and the other two becoming of age to play youth sports, our time is contributed to them being able to experience various sports and receive the necessary training to excel. My current fitness goals has been to work on improving my Olympic weightlifting while also incorporating powerlifting and crossfit movements (except burpees); but overall, my kid's fitness/sports journey remains to be my main focus. It’s exciting to be a role model for them and to keep them motivated to pursue their goals.
To all of the Viejo/Vieja Strong followers, always remember: you’re never "too old", nothing is impossible, and don’t accept someone’s past failures or lack of support as an excuse to not pursue your goals. Try new things that make you happy and will allow you to enjoy being fit. Enjoy the journey and the friends you will make along the way!
Follow Jeremy on Instagram: @Trujillo_45
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